Ian Botham sets off on 25th cancer charity walk across UK

Twenty-five years after England cricketing legend Ian Botham’s first charity walk, from John O’Groats to Land’s End, he is stepping out again for his blood cancer charity.

Botham, who is the president of Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research, has raised 12 million pounds for the charity over the years, and his total last year was more than 500,000 pounds.

This year he will be walking through ten towns in ten days starting in Manchester and finishing in London.

“It is quite remarkable. I feel proud of the achievements we have made over the years...both for myself and for all the people who have been with me throughout the walks,” Sky News quoted Botham, as saying.

He further said that he is not as physically fit as he was when he participated for the first time, but insisted that he is looking forward to complete the distance.
 
“Its different now. I had a hip operation last summer, so I've been in training for eight weeks,” Botham said.

“At the end of the day I have to get myself in shape so that I can reach the finishing point,” he added.

Joining Botham for the cause will be Ross Lindley, who at the age of nine suffered from leukaemia and was with the cricketer as he ended his first walk in 1985.

“I can’t believe that I am here 25 years later and joining the great man once again. I feel both proud and emotional when I think back all those years,” he said.